Body-Mind Metaphors in China and Greece: Perspectives on Mind-Body Dualism

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                Joint Seminar
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The Hong Kong University of Science & Technology
Human Language Technology Center
Department of Computer Science and Engineering
Department of Electronic and Computer Engineering
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Speaker:        Professor Lisa Raphals
                University of California, Riverside

Title:          "Body-Mind Metaphors in China and Greece:
                 Perspectives on Mind-Body Dualism"

Date:           Friday, 26 May 2017

Time:           4:00pm to 5:00pm

Venue:          Lecture Theater H (near lifts 27/28), HKUST

Abstract:

Embodiment is a universal element of the human condition, but there is no
consensus on how "we" relate to "our" bodies. On one extreme, the mind or
soul can be understood as entirely separate from the body, on another,
entirely intertwined. Various degrees of separation and various kinds of
relation are also possible. This paper uses a Lakoff-Johnson style
analysis to examine a range of early Chinese and Greek body-mind
metaphors, with specific reference to the problem of mind-body dualism. It
argues (1) that comparable root metaphors occur in both traditions, (2)
that both dualist and holist accounts of body and mind occur in each
tradition, and (3) that there is considerable interest in comparing scales
of holism and dualism, rather than making broad claims for any one
cultural tradition.


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Biography:

Lisa Raphals (瑞麗) studies the cultures of early China and Classical
Greece, with interests in comparative philosophy, religion and history of
science. She is Professor of Chinese and Comparative Literature and
Tri-Campus Program in Classis, University of California Riverside
(cooperating faculty Philosophy, Religious Studies). She is the author of
Knowing Words: Wisdom and Cunning in the Classical Traditions of China and
Greece (Cornell, 1992), Sharing the Light: Representations of Women and
Virtue in Early China (SUNY, 1998), Divination and Prediction in Early
China and Ancient Greece (Cambridge, 2013). Representative scholarly
articles include: "Skeptical Strategies in the Zhuangzi and Theaetetus"
(Philosophy East & West, 1994), "Debates about Fate in Early China"
(Etudes Chinoises, 2014), "Sunzi versus Xunzi: Two Views of Deception and
Indirection" (Early China, 2016) and "Body and Mind in Early China and
Greece" (Journal of Cognitive Historiography, 2017).